[ Not remotely what he was expecting, and it takes him a second to reply. When he does, there's no more aggression. The one "good" thing about this place is that it hasn't really let him dwell on home and the mess he'd made there. ]
Nora. I mean, Ray and- [ Except he's not actually sure if Henry knows either of those names. ]
I was in the woods. Aidan had... gone to take care of things.
[ Another "good" thing is that it's left them suspended in time, giving them a chance to change the future. ]
When you get back, you need to find him. Aidan. They are-- or they've already buried him in the ground, somewhere near Mother's. Dig him up, all right?
[ There's another delay, but it's not out of surprise. Aidan had filled him in, if succinctly, but he hadn't had any idea what Henry remembered. ]
I know. About him being buried, but - tell me.
Is that the last thing you remember? [ A gentle way of asking whether he remembers being tortured, possibly being on the brink of death. As for getting Aidan's location - he's not sure if it works like that, if he'll remember anything when (if) he goes back, but there's no point in not trying. ]
Aidan was still alive the last time I saw him, before they dragged him away. [ Henry remembers hanging from the ceiling, vision blurring, as he watched Aidan being dragged away. There had been darkness after that, then a tub jammed down his throat.
Then space. ]
He told me what happens next, but I'm not sure I can help him.
[ Because he might be dead as soon as he gets back. Shotgun in the face, etc. He doesn't see it ending well. ]
I don't know if it works that way. If people remember all of - this. There's a kid here who left the ship and came back. He doesn't remember ever being here.
[ There's no spite, just tiredness. And pessimism, because that's what he's good at. ]
[ Henry's always had a proclivity for optomism. How else could he have ever thought that he'd be accepted back into the family after the whole ordeal with Suren? The chance may be slim, but he's hoping that one of them will remember, that he's not dead. ]
Aidan's not going to die there, Josh. He can't. [ Though Henry probably does know that. ] Hunger doesn't kill us, it just dries us up. Makes us go mad. And he'll be stuck there until someone digs him up. [ Again. ] He's in trouble because I screwed up. I have to try and do something.
[ As far as Josh is concerned, Henry represents everything about Aidan that they've been trying to avoid, the worst kind of backsliding - so it's bizarre to have anything in common with him, or have even the smallest bit of respect for what he's saying.
So even if it's there, there's no way he's going to express any sympathy on that front. The lack of criticism (asking how exactly Henry screwed up, how he made a bigger mess of the one Aidan - and Josh - had already made with the other vampires) is as good as it gets. He's not ready to talk feelings with you, man, but he knows better than to mock them. ]
Was there anything else, or are we done? [ Dismissive, but it's said without much hostility. He can't pretend there isn't some warped comfort in talking to someone from back home about people who matter, even if it's very nearly the last person he'd like. ]
[ Aidan doesn't need Henry to backslide, when he had already fallen off the cliff alone.
But Henry gets it. Josh has turned him into a symbol of everything he refuses to acknowledge about Aidan. Easier to make him culpable, than to acknowledge that his friend was drinking live, that even now he is still a killer.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
What's the last thing you remember before coming here?
no subject
Nora. I mean, Ray and- [ Except he's not actually sure if Henry knows either of those names. ]
I was in the woods. Aidan had... gone to take care of things.
no subject
When you get back, you need to find him. Aidan. They are-- or they've already buried him in the ground, somewhere near Mother's. Dig him up, all right?
I'll tell you where to go.
no subject
I know. About him being buried, but - tell me.
Is that the last thing you remember? [ A gentle way of asking whether he remembers being tortured, possibly being on the brink of death. As for getting Aidan's location - he's not sure if it works like that, if he'll remember anything when (if) he goes back, but there's no point in not trying. ]
no subject
Then space. ]
He told me what happens next, but I'm not sure I can help him.
no subject
[ Because he might be dead as soon as he gets back. Shotgun in the face, etc. He doesn't see it ending well. ]
I don't know if it works that way. If people remember all of - this. There's a kid here who left the ship and came back. He doesn't remember ever being here.
[ There's no spite, just tiredness. And pessimism, because that's what he's good at. ]
tube jammed down his throat* ffffgds
[ Henry's always had a proclivity for optomism. How else could he have ever thought that he'd be accepted back into the family after the whole ordeal with Suren? The chance may be slim, but he's hoping that one of them will remember, that he's not dead. ]
Aidan's not going to die there, Josh. He can't. [ Though Henry probably does know that. ] Hunger doesn't kill us, it just dries us up. Makes us go mad. And he'll be stuck there until someone digs him up. [ Again. ] He's in trouble because I screwed up. I have to try and do something.
lskdfj also SORRY SLOW
So even if it's there, there's no way he's going to express any sympathy on that front. The lack of criticism (asking how exactly Henry screwed up, how he made a bigger mess of the one Aidan - and Josh - had already made with the other vampires) is as good as it gets. He's not ready to talk feelings with you, man, but he knows better than to mock them. ]
Was there anything else, or are we done? [ Dismissive, but it's said without much hostility. He can't pretend there isn't some warped comfort in talking to someone from back home about people who matter, even if it's very nearly the last person he'd like. ]
no subject
But Henry gets it. Josh has turned him into a symbol of everything he refuses to acknowledge about Aidan. Easier to make him culpable, than to acknowledge that his friend was drinking live, that even now he is still a killer.
What does Josh actually know about Henry? ]
No.